Improved shoe-knife



UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE..

WILLIAM W. WRIGHT, OF SOUTH KILLINGLY, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVED SHOE-KNIFE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,122, dated December 9, 1862.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. WRIGHT, of South Killingly, in the county of Windham and State 0f Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Shoe-Knife. called the Guard- Knife, of which the following is a full and exact description, reference being had to the drawings and model which accompany and make a part of this specification.

a, in the accompanying drawings, represents the guard, which is confined to the side of the knife by the screw b, and is set against and across the point of the knife, the point of the knife resting in a small dent in said guard.

b represents the screw that holds the guard to the knife.

c represents the screw on which the wheel or tumbler d revolves.

d represents the wheel or tumbler, with an eccentrical perforation, through which the screw c passes and confines it to the knife. By turning the wheel or tumbler the guard may be adjusted to the point of the knife where it becomes more narrow, from use or other cause, and it also prevents the guard from sliding on the point of the knife when in use.

e represents an oblong orifice `through the guard, by means of which the guard may be moved backward and forward on the screw b and adjusted to the point of the knife, and then made fast by said screw.

f represents the blade of the knife, which is sufficiently thick when the screws b and c are inserted to hold them rmly.

The guard is made of iron or any other metal suciently stiff and unyielding for the purpose, and is fiat where the orifice E is made through it. Near the end of said oriiice, toward the handle of the knife, a bar projects from the fiat part of the guard and rests upon the wheel or tumbler D, thereby effectually preventing the dent in the guard from being moved from the point of the knife when in use. Near the end of said orifice toward the point of the knife the guard is narrowed and turned upward, and then bent above the blade in such a form as to bring' the end of the guard downward and a little below the point of the knife, leaving that part of the blade under the bend in the guard naked. The end against the point of the knife is flattened and made smooth, with a small dent in the side next to the blade, in which the point of the kniferests. The fiat end of the guard is wrang a little from a direct position with reference to the other parts of the guard, that it may lie parallel to the sole when the knife is held in the proper position for paring, and extends below the point of the knife sufficiently to hold onto the sole to be pared and keep it closely pressed to the outsole while the knife is in use, that the sole may be pared smooth and even and without leaving a feather-edge next to the upper leather, by means of which arrangement I am enabled to guide and steady the knife when trimming a sole by placing the end of the forefm ger of the left hand against the guard above the blade, while I hold the handle of the knife in my right hand; to have the paring pass smoothly over the blade without any obstruction to turn smoothly and even with the outsole without leaving a feather-edge next to the upper leather by drawing the knife once round the sole; to trim a sole without exposing the upper leather to the point of the knife, and to adjust and secure the guard to the point of the knife without the least difficulty in every stage of the blades wear.

This knife is highly useful for trimming shoes, especially those with whole or half double soles, removing the projecting parts of springs from spring-heel shoes, Sto. As the sole between the upper leather and outsole after the shoe has been pegged or sewed necessari] y projects beyond the outsole, it becomes necessary to trim said sole even with the outsole. This can be effected easily and expeditiously and with perfect safety to the upper leather by inserting that part of the guard below the blade between the upper leather and the sole next to it, laying the blade of the knife fiat to the edge of the outsole, pulling gently on the knife in such manner as to keep the soles pressed together by means ofthe hold the guard has on the sole next the upper leather, and drawing the knife forward at the same time upon the edge of the outsole until the projecting edge of the sole is removed by the edge of the knife.

Having thus fully described the construction of my said knife and the manner in which it removes the projectin g edge of soles and guards the upper leather from inj ury at the same time, I do hereby declare that I do not claim to be the inventor of the shoe-knife 0r of any form' screwing it to the blade of the knife, with the dent in the dat end thereof on the point of the knife, and the bar at the other end thereof rest in g on the wheel or tumbler, as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my naine this 7th dayv of July, A, D.

WILLIAM W. WRIGHT. In presence of- J osHUA PERKINS, EARL MARTIN. 

